February 10: Doomsday For Businesses That Sell Used Children's Clothing & Handmade Toys

A controversial new law that requires that all products sold to children under the age of 12 be tested for lead and phthalates prior to being sold will go into effect February 10th.

When the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act takes effect on February 10th, all used clothing for kids, all school supplies, all toys and anything else made for children under 12 will have to undergo this extremely expensive testing or it will be against the law to sell them.

That means that the sale of used kids clothes and toys on Ebay, Craigslist, thrift stores and even yard sales will be SHUT DOWN.

Some groups had been hoping that this law would only apply to children's clothing manufactured after February 10th, but according to the Los Angeles Times, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's general counsel has made a determination that this new law applies to everyone retroactively.

Ouch!

There is a huge segment of the American population that makes all or part of their living off of the sale of used merchandise. In trying to "protect children" from lead, the federal government is going to shut a lot of those people down.

The new law is called the "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act", and it was pushed through Congress after lead was discovered in so many children's products (particularly from China) the past few years.

So if you plan to sell ANY products for children under 12 after February 10th, even if they are used, and you have not had them go through the federally mandated testing then you are breaking the law.

So what will happen to all of that perfectly good children's clothing?

Adele Meyer, the executive director of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops said that "they'll all have to go to the landfill."

Shauna Sloan, the founder of Kid to Kid, which has sold used children's clothing in 75 stores across the United States for years had this sobering statement about the new law: "We will have to lock our doors and file for bankruptcy."

So will we all be forced to only shop for children's clothing and products at the mega retail chains that can afford this very expensive government testing?

What about the grandmother who wants to knit a few sweaters for children and sell them at the county fair?

Will men with guns start showing up at thrift stores and yard sales across the United States?

The following is a news report on the impact that this new law is having on some toy sellers.....